Inspector-general of police (IGP) Usman Alkali Baba has described Governor Yahaya Bello of Kogi State as a dogged crime fighter who has made the state unsafe for criminals to operate.
He said Bello was one governor who would never raise the alarm of not being in control of security in his state, adding that from what he had observed, the governor “leads from the front.”
The IGP, who spoke during his visit to the state yesterday, added that he was happy that Governor Bello was playing the role of the “real chief executive officer” in terms of security, noting that he is “a dependable ally in the battle against national insecurity.”
He said, “I’ve never heard him cry that he doesn’t have control of security in his state. That is because he is able to synergise and cooperate with all the security agencies as well as lead from the front. Security is everybody’s business. When you have a leader who is leading from the front, others will follow. That is what is happening in Kogi.
“Many of the crimes being committed by sons and daughters of Kogi are not even being committed in Kogi but outside Kogi because they have no place in Kogi State again.
“We have people like His Excellency who are supporting our cause. My sincere gratitude to His Excellency for being proactive about security. I can’t remember how many times he has visited the force headquarters, not for himself because he has no reason to; but in his efforts to protect his people. I don’t know how many governors do this.”
In his address, Governor Bello reiterated the readiness of his administration to resist attempts by some desperate politicians to plunge the state into the pre-2015 era of insecurity in the guise of playing politics.
The governor said credible intelligence report at the disposal of the state government had revealed that actions of some politicians were capable of truncating the peace currently enjoyed in the state, stressing that his administration would not allow insecurity to be smuggled into Kogi through the “boot of politics”.
